Always With You
by YuriFan300
Summary: A heartwarming story of Sojiro and Kanata. How they first met and fell in love.
1. They Meet

**Always with You  
**

**Pairing: Sojiro x Kanata**

**Genre: Drama**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Lucky Star or any of its characters.**

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone. Recently, after watching episode 22 and reading some of the fanfics of this pairing, I feel that I need to write my first fanfic with these two. Despite the stories I've read, this is _my _version of how Sojiro and Kanata got together. So, without further ado, enjoy the story! :)**

**Chapter 1**

**They Meet**

"So-kun! Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, Mom! I'll see you after school!"

"Bye!"

With that, 12-year-old, Sojiro Isumi, exits the house and runs off to catch the bus. He lives alone with his parents and is often in his room, either doing homework, or stare at the window to observe the neighborhood. HIs life isn't as great as the other families in his neighborhood. His father is still finding a job, Sojiro and his mother are working non-stop to keep the house neat and clean and more importantly, he doesn't have any friends. He hasn't made one since he was in kindergarden. The kids would always bully him just because his family is poor. Sometimes, Sojiro would get fed up with it and wish he were never born with this horrible life.

But now, he has to live with it for however long it will be. Once he enters school, the kids look at him and just laugh while pelting him with crumpled up paper. Sojiro tries to ignore them, but can feel anger building up inside him. He did not like it. Not one bit. Why can't someone accept him just for once? He takes all of this torture until he arrives in class and sits at his desk.

"Hey look!" one boy says, pointing at him. "It's Sojiro, the Loser!"

Everone bursts out laughing.

Another boy walks up to him and smirks. "So, has your family gotten any poorer, yet?"

Sojiro looks up, showing no signs of irritation. "My family is just fine. They can get by soon."

Everyone laughs again.

"Like that will ever happen!" the boy scoffs. "Let's leave him alone, everyone. He's too poor to be around anyway."

Anger keeps on rising in Sojiro, but tries to keep calm as much as possible. It has always been the same thing. Everyone always making fun of him because his poor family life and how he doesn't have any friends. He keeps on praying that someday, someone might accept him and maybe become his friend. With that in mind, he looks up to notice a small girl with long light blue hair and green eyes, staring shyly at him, but quickly turns away. Sojiro can't help but be curious about this girl. He had never seen her before since school started and it's only been a couple weeks. He wanted to talk to her, but is also shy about it. He doesn't know if she would accept him either since everyone else seems to avoid him. But he keeps on staring at her, like he had just seen a new toy at a toy store. The light blue haired girl glances at him again, then quickly turns away shyly. Sojiro smiles at her. She does seem to catch his interest. He should definitely find an opportunity to talk to her sometime.

All throughout school, Sojiro can't stop thinking about the girl. Every time he would have a free moment, he would steal glances at her while she's taking notes. At recess, he would just sit on the bench and observe her cute looks and that wonderful hair that flows gracefully with the light, gentle breeze blowing past her. Sojiro sighs happily as he slumps down on the bench. Yes, this girl is something. He finally decides to talk to her tomorrow!

* * *

"Hi, Mom! I'm home!"

His mother slightly turns her head to the right to see her son enter the door. "Oh, hi So-kun." She turns her head back to the dishes she's washing. "So, how was school?"

"It was awesome!" Sojiro says excitedly. "I just met a new girl at school today!"

"Really?" The mother immediately stops what she's doing, takes off her gloves and excitedly runs over to him. "You made a new friend? What's her name?"

"Actually, I haven't really talked to her yet," Sojiro says, truthfully. "She seemed a little shy when both of us looked at each other. I was . . . also a little shy to talk to her as well."

His mom nods in understanding. "I see. Well, if you do talk to her, let me know. I want to meet her, too, and I'm sure your father will as well."

"I will! Thanks, Mom!" He hugs his mother and then happily runs upstairs.

In his room, he closes the door and sighs. He walks over to the window and stares at the neighborhood outside. From there, he would only think about the girl he saw at school. He can't get her out of his head. She seems so shy, yet gentle and kind. He could tell just by looking at her. Back at school, he could've sworn she smiled at him once when they first had eyes on each other. He wonders why other people wouldn't talk to her either. Maybe she's too shy? Either way, Sojiro is determined to be the first person to talk with her. And so, for the rest of the night, the image of the girl keeps playing in his head, even after he's gone to bed.

* * *

The next day, Sojiro rushes to the classroom to see if the girl is here today. He looks around to notice she's not there. Could she be late coming to class? He's hoping she might, so he just proceeds to his desk and waits for her to come in. In about a minute before the bell rings, the same, light blue haired girl rushes in the classroom, panting so hard from all the running. To Sojiro, she looks like she is in a lot of pain, like she can't breathe very well after she ran all the way to the classroom. His eyes show a bit of concern for her as the girl summons all her strength to lean back up, walk over and take her seat. He glances at her worriedly as the bell rings for class to begin. What could've caused her to breathe like that? Does she have asthma and that's why she has a hard time breathing? Many questions fill his mind as the teacher is giving the lesson.

When lunch/recess starts, everyone scrambles out of their seats except for Sojiro and the light blue haired girl. He looks over at her, who is having a sad look on her face. See her sad like this makes him sad. He suddenly remembers that he now has a chance to speak with her. He is about to approach her when she suddenly stands up and walks off. Sojiro is left standing here, his eyes full of concern for her. Is there something wrong? He just shakes his head and heads down to the cafeteria to eat his lunch.

After eating, he immediately heads to the playground and sits on his usual bench. He looks around for the girl to see if she is even here. He catches her bouncing a red ball alone with a lonely look in her eyes. Seeing her like that takes him back to the times when he was alone like this. He can't believe he would see someone who has the same problem as him. Now he would have to talk to her. With eyes filled with determination, he bravely approaches her.

"Um . . . excuse me," he says.

The little girl turns and her eyes widen. "Oh! Um . . . hi." Despite her high voice, it sounds very angelic to Sojiro.

"Hello," he says. "How are you?"

"Not good. How about you?"

"The same. You looked very lonely out there."

"Yes," the girl says. "No one wants to play with me because I'm too shy to talk to them. And I'm new here."

"Well," Sojiro says, fidgeting with his fingers. "If you want to . . . you can . . . play with me. I'm all alone as well."

The girl brightens. "Really!? Oh, thank you very much!" She happily approaches him while jumping up and down.

"No problem. Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Sojiiro Izumi."

The light blue haired girl shyly looks down while speaking quietly, "A-and my name is . . . Kanata Misaki."

"Nice to meet you, Misaki-san," Sojiro greets.

"U-um . . . you can call me Kanata. It's fine."

"Alright then. Kanata it is." He holds out his hand. "Then, you can call me Sojiro."

"O-okay." Kanata gently grips it while still shyly looking away and blushing.

From then on, the two start playing with each other. They went on the playground, played tag and even sat on the bench together to observe the other kids playing. This is the first time the two ever had fun together. Sojiro looks at Kanata, in which she does the same and both of them smile at each other.

"So," Sojiro says while nervously rubbing the back of his head. "I heard that you were we here. Are you still getting used to this school?"

Kanata shakes her head. "Not really. All of the kids doesn't want to play with me or even want to talk to me."

"Why not?"

"People say that I'm too shy."

Sojiro gives her a reassuring smile. "Come on, it's not that bad a when you get into a new school. Everyone is nervous like that. Maybe after a while you will make new friends."

"You think so?"

"Absolutely."

Kanata finally smiles at him. "Thank you, Sojiro."

The blue haired boy smiles back. "No problem. Say, want to play together again tomorrow?"

"Eh? You want to play with me tomorrow!?" Her eyes is filled with excitement.

"Mm-hmm."

"Then yes! I do want to play with you tomorrow!"

Both of them laugh happily as they stand up from the bench and hear the bell ring for recess to end. With that, Sojiro offers to lead Kanata back to the classroom, in which she accepts and the two good friends walk toward the school building.

**A/N: I know it's a short chapter, but this is only the beginning. I'll probably try to expand the flashbacks from episode 22 later on, if I'm able to understand them since they're fragments of them. I'll also try to add in characters of my own later in the story as well. **

**Anyways feel free to give out any suggestions, questions or concerns and don't forget to review! ;**


	2. Courage

**Chapter 2**

**Courage**

Sojiro and Kanata never stopped seeing each other. Every day, they would play alone together on the playground, while the other kids just watch them. They have no idea that those two were able to interact with each other when both of them have difficult lives. Overall, Sojiro and Kanata are inseparable. For the next two weeks, Sojiro is learning more and more about Kanata when they have a spare moment together on the bench next to the playground.

He learned that she is a frail girl who gets sick easily and the doctors are doing everything they can to have her stay healthy. She couldn't even go to this school until this year because of her condition. She's feeling a bit better than she was years ago, but she still has trouble breathing, since the day he saw her breathing heavily while holding her chest tightly. And she was just going to the nurse's office to retrieve her inhaler, not because she was just ignoring him when he tried talking to her.

He felt really bad for her when she ended her story. Why would anyone not want to talk to a sickly girl who is in a bad condition? She really needed someone to be by her side and comfort her if there's hard times. So, he promised her that he will always be there for her, no matter what happens. Kanata was touched by his words and accepted his promise.

Now, the next day, after they had their promise, things weren't going well for them at all. One of the kids witnessed this touching scene and decided to tell everyone else. So, when Sojiro and Kanata come in the classroom together, everyone starts to laugh at them.

"Hey, look everyone!" one of the boys say. "The two poor people are here!"

"Look at them!" one girl says. "They just walked in like they are a married couple!"

"Ohhhhhhh," everyone else says, staring down at them.

Kanata starts to feel uneasy about this and just looks down at the floor. Sojiro takes notice and glares at the other kids.

"We're just friends," he says. "And just so you know, Kanata needed a friend since she's in a bad condition, so I gladly became her friend."

"Her only friend?" one of the boys ask.

Sojiro nods, not giving the slightest irritation. "Now if you'll excuse us, we need to get to our seats."

With that, the two simply take their seats, with Sojiro pulling out her chair for her. The other kids continue to snicker and whisper gossips to their friends about how much of a couple they are.

* * *

Though Sojiro is trying to be strong for not only for himself, but for Kanata as well, the other kids would still make fun of them, just because they have one thing in common. What is the problem with that? They are just poor kids who have families that are trying to live a good life, despite having a bad one for the start. Nevertheless, they continue to stay beside each other.

Until one day, while sitting on a bench together, one boy with short brown hair walks up to the two.

"Can we help you?" Sojiro asks.

"That girl looks cute," the boy says.

"Come again?" Sojiro says, raising an eyebrow.

"My name is Ryuu Kaji," the brown haired boy says. "And what I want is that lovely blue haired girl of yours."

"W-what?" Kanata is not sure what he's talking about, but she knows that this boy is up to no good.

Sojiro glances at Kanata and back to Ryuu. "What do you want with her?"

"Oh, I just want to have little talk with her, maybe do stuff together," the brown haired boy replies.

"Sorry, but she's already with me," Sojiro says. "Maybe next time."

Ryuu raises an eyebrow. "Next time? There won't be a next time if you're around. I suggest you leave before I rip your arms off."

Sojiro glares at him. He can't let a guy like him tell him what to do. He stands up and says, "No. I think I'll stay right here by Kanata."

Kanata brightens. "Sojiro . . ."

Ryuu rolls his eyes. "Oh, I'm so scared. So, you want to do it the hard way, eh?"

"Don't tell me or Kanata what to do," Sojiro says firmly. "Because you're not the boss of us and we can do whatever we want to."

"Oh, yeah? Tough guy?" Ryuu shoves Sojiro to the hard ground, making his knee scrape.

"Ah!" Kanata screams as she backs away a step, seeing this horrible sight. "Are you okay?"

"Now, give me Kanata or I'll kick your butt!" Ryuu demands.

Sojiro winces as he tries to get up, noticing his knee is bleeding from sliding on the hard pavement. Before Ryuu could do anything, a teacher steps in, seeing the fight between the two boys.

"Hey!" he says as he approaches the boys. "What's going on here?" He then notices Sojiro on the ground with his knee bleeding and then back at Ryuu. "Did he do this?"

Sojiro nods. "He only tried to take Kanata away from me and I don't know what he's going to do with her, so I tried to defend her, but he pushed me down."

Ryuu tries to look for an excuse when he gets nothing. When everything is over, the teacher takes Ryuu away with Sojiro sighing in relief. Just then, Kanata rushes over to his aid with a worried look in her eyes.

"Sojiro!" she cries. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he says as he glances at his knee.

Kanata gasps at this sight as it was continuing to bleed. "Oh, no! What do we do?"

Sojiro slowly gets up. "We have to go to the nurse's office." He starts to limp his way to the entrance when a small arm wraps around his shoulder to support him from falling. When he glances over his shoulder, he notices Kanata helping him out.

"Thank you . . . Kanata," he says as he smiles at her.

The blue haired girl smiles back at him. "No problem. After all, you're my only friend in the world."

And so together, the two walk towards the school building and into the nurse's office.

* * *

**A/N: Short chapter again, but I promise I will expand it later on. I may have copied Yutaka's condition for Kanata's but that's all I can come up with, so I apologize if it's a little similar. **

**Anyways, I'm glad you're liking this story so far and thank you for the reviews, especially Simply Hiiragi, for being the first to review. Your compliments had motivated me to make another chapter, so thank you so much. :) **

**Feel free to give out any suggestions, questions or concerns and don't forget to review. ;)**


	3. Moving

**Chapter 3**

**Moving**

It's been over a month since Sojiro and Kanata were together. Since Sojiro was brave enough to stand up to tough boys like Ryuu, people started to look at the two a little differently. They realized that maybe Sojiro and Kanata aren't really as bad as they seem if they just get to know them a little better, although others still make fun of them. From then on, the kids started to accept them and talk to them. The more they talked to Sojiro and Kanata, the more they got along with the kids. The two were happy that the other kids finally accepted them and they even got to play with them on the playground.

And today is another day to do that. Sojiro and Kanata actually made a few friends during that month and they've played together ever since.

"Sup, So-kun!" One boy with gray hair named Kai says.

"Hi, there!" Sojiro says, waving at him. They also started calling him So-kun for short, including Kanata after a short while.

"You're just in time!" A pig-tailed girl with red hair named Lucy says.

"Come on! Let's play!" another boy with blonde named Roger says.

Once on the playground, Sojiro, Kanata and about 3 other kids gather around to figure out what they should to today. All of them brainstorm a little bit.

"Hmm . . . what to do . . . what do to do," Lucy mumbles.

"I know!" another girl with brown hair named Saya says. "How about freeze tag?"

"Nah," Kai says. "We played that like 15 times already."

"How about regular tag?" Lucy asks.

"Same thing," Roger says.

"Well . . ." Kanata says, shyly. "Why don't we play hide and seek?"

"Hide and seek?" Saya asks.

"We haven't done that very often for the past month," Kai says. "So, I think we should do that."

"Yeah!" Roger says, pumping up a fist.

"Let's do it!" Lucy cries out.

"Sounds good to me," Sojiro says, smiling.

"I agree," Kanata says.

"Alright," Kai says, putting his hands on his hips. "So . . . who's going to be it?"

All of them look at Sojiro. He just chuckles and says, "Alright, if you insist."

"Great!" Lucy happily clasps her hands together. "Let's go!"

Sojiro quickly rushes to a tree, making sure not to see any body, covers his eyes and starts counting. Everyone else scrambles out to find a hiding place, leaving little Kanata left in the dust. She frantically looks around for a good hiding spot, but couldn't decide since she's under a lot of pressure. She then finds tree next to her, hoping this would be a good hiding spot, since everyone else chose other places, like under the playground, the tires and even behind some corners of the building.

"8 . . . 9 . . . 10! Ready or not, here I come!" Sojiro calls out as he turns back.

He stares at a tree ahead of him and wonders who is hiding there. He trots over around it and immediately finds Kanata and playfully taps her on the shoulder.

"Found you!" Sojiro says.

Kanata giggles. "Aw, you found me!"

"Come on, let's go find the others."

"Alright."

Together, Sojiro and Kanata search for the remaining kids. They decide to start with the playground since they are right next to it. They separate and look around for the other kids. Kanata starts searching above the playground while Sojiro searches low. He looks under the slide and immediately finds Lucy hiding under there and playfully taps her on the shoulder.

"Gotcha!" he says.

"Aw, man!" Lucy says. "I thought I picked a really good hiding spot!"

"Well, better luck next time, right?" Sojiro jokes.

Lucy laughs as she follows him and meets up with Kanata who had just found Roger and Saya from the pile of tires. The one person left is Kai. They decide to split up and try to search for him everywhere. They searched high and low on the playground. Kanata checks near the sandbox while Roger checked on the swing set. Sojiro and Lucy couldn't find him near the corners of the building or anywhere else. Saya even tried the far side of the playground. After about 10 minutes, they decide to take a break and sit on a long bench near by.

"Phew . . . I'm beat," Lucy says.

"That Kai sure is good," Roger says. "We'll never find him now."

Kanata lets out a disappointed sigh when she suddenly feels something grab her foot. Terrified by this, she jumps up in a panic and lets out a scream. "EEEEEEEEEK!"

"What's wrong, Kanata?" Sojiro asks.

"S-s-s-s-something just grabbed my foot!" the blue haired girl stammers while trembling in fear.

"Huh?" Saya looks under the bench and furrows her eyebrows. "Oh, it's only Kai. Come out of there, you butt head!"

"Haha!" the gray haired boy laughs as he hops out of his hiding spot. "Got you guys!"

"That wasn't very funny, Kai!" Kanata scolds. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"I'm sorry, but since you guys couldn't find me for at least 15 minutes, I decided to surprise you." He turns to Kanata. "Sorry for scaring you like that."

"It's okay," she says, softly. "Actually, now that I think about it, I quite enjoyed that little surprise."

Sojiro just chuckles. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. In fact, I haven't had this much fun since I transferred here."

"I agree." Lucy says.

Soon, the bell rings for the end of recess and everyone starts to line up to go to their classrooms. As Sojiro and Kanata were about to leave, Kai walks up to them and says, "Hey, we should play together again tomorrow."

Sojiro nods in agreement. "That would be great."

Kanata smiles. "I'd love to."

"Great," Kai says as he turns to leave. "Well, see you guys tomorrow."

Both Sojiro and Kanata wave to their new friend and both of them walk towards their line to get back to their classroom.

* * *

By the end of the day, Sojiro and Kanata take the bus ride home. They've been riding together since Sojiro became Kanata's friend and they even walk each other home. And sometimes, Kanata would come over to Sojiro's house if she wanted to. One time, when Sojiro wanted to introduce Kanata to his parents, he asked her if she wanted to sleep over. This got her very excited and accepted the offer. When she came over, Sojiro's parents were amazed on how adorable she looked. They were even complimenting her on how much of a nice person she was and glad that Sojiro had a good friend like her. So, they allowed her to come over any time she wants to. But . . . there's one thing that Sojiro doesn't understand . . .

"Kanata," Sojiro says as they get off the bus. "I never heard anything about your parents. Is there something wrong?"

Kanata stops and looks down at the ground. "Well . . . I just don't know. I mean, they are great parents to me, it's just that . . ."

"Just what?"

"They are very worried about my condition, So-kun," Kanata admits. "They would make sure that I would be okay before I would leave for school and after school, they would always check my temperature and such, and just try to keep me healthy so that I won't die at a young age."

Sojiro looks at her worriedly. "How are you feeling right now?"

"I'm a little tired, that's all. Maybe it's because of all that hard work of searching for our friends at recess."

"Do you want to come over to my house then?"

Kanata thinks about it for a bit and sadly shakes her head. "No, sorry. Not this time. My parents booked me an appointment today at 4:00, just to check up on my condition."

"Okay. That's understandable."

When they arrive at Kanata's home, she slowly walks up the driveway when she slightly turns her head with a sad look on her face. It makes Sojiro do the same, but quickly smiles and waves at her. Kanata slowly waves back and enters her home.

* * *

Back at his house, Sojiro comes in and greets his parents. He finds them in the living room for some reason.

"Sojiro!" his father greets his son with a bright smile on his face. "Glad you're home in time."

"What's going on?" Sojiro asks.

"We have great news for you, honey!" his mother says, excitedly. "You're father got a new job!"

Sojiro brightens. "Really!? That's awesome! What job are you taking?"

"Well, a man wanted to hire me to be an assistant at a restaurant that's downtown," his father replies. "I'm going to be assistant manager at a Japanese restaurant, Sojiro!"

"Downtown?" Sojiro didn't like the sound of that.

"Yes!" his mother cheers. "We're moving to Tokyo, sweetie! Isn't that great!?"

Sojiro slowly nods in agreement as he takes in the word that panged his heart. _Moving . . ._ That means he would be leaving Kanata as well. He can't believe his father would have a job in the city when he has his only friend to care about here. He doesn't know what to say then.

"What's wrong, hun?" his mother asks, giving him a worried look. "Aren't you happy that we're moving?"

"Oh, y-yes," Sojiro lies. "Just wanted to ask . . . when are we moving?"

"Hmm . . . in about 2 days I believe."

"I see," Sojiro says softly as he hangs down his head. "May I be excused? I've got some homework I need to do."

"Okay . . ."

The blue haired boy rushes up to his room and quickly closes the door behind him. _We're . . . moving?_ he thinks. He never expected it at all, yes he was glad that his dad got a new job, but out there in Tokyo? What would he tell Kanata? He must try to tell her at the right time and say it as honestly and properly as he could. To him, leaving this neighborhood means leaving Kanata, who has no one else to stay by her side and tell her that everything will be okay despite her condition. Yes, they made some friends, but can they be trusted to take care of her?

"Kanata . . ." he whispers as he looks out the window.

* * *

The next day, he was not in a good mood. He meets up with his best friend at the bus stop and the two climb on. Once they sit next to each other, none of them say a word. Sojiro is just too stressed about the whole moving thing and figuring out a way to properly tell Kanata the news. Kanata glances at her friend and starts to feel a little worried about him. Usually, he's in a good mood and the two would talk non-stop on the bus. But today is totally different. She wants to ask him what's wrong, but considering the stressed look on his face tells her that she should probably not ask until further notice.

"Kanata," Sojiro says, quietly. "How was your appointment?"

"It was alright," the blue haired girl answers. "There wasn't anything serious, so I'm all good."

"I'm glad." Sojiro continues to look out the window with Kanata feeling even more worried.

Throughout the school day, things weren't going well for the two of them. Each time Kanata would try to talk to Sojiro, he would give out one word answers or not talk at all. He wouldn't even talk during recess, which is very confusing and frustrating. Kanata could tell that something is up with Sojiro and wants to find out right away.

When the school day ends, after Sojiro and Kanata enter the bus, they haven't said a word. Sojiro is looking out the window again while Kanata is thinking of a way to ask him what is going on. She wants to help him solve whatever problems he has, just as he did with her. But, why wouldn't he tell her anything? They are friends, aren't they? And friends tell each other everything. She keeps on thinking on the back of her mind, "Why?"

Once they reach their destination, Sojiro and Kanata get off the bus. When Sojiro is about to walk off, Kanata finally speaks up.

"So-kun," she says. "Are you okay? You've been like this all day."

The blue haired boy says nothing.

"Please, So-kun. I want to help you, like you did me. So, what's wrong?"

"Kanata," he says as he turns to her with a sad expression. "I'm afraid I"m not going to be around anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Kanata asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, when I got home yesterday, my mom told me that Dad got a new job . . . in Tokyo. So that means . . . we're moving in two days."

Kanata's eyes widen at the sudden news. "N-no way. Is this true?"

Sojiro could only nod and hand his head down in shame. Kanata looks down at the ground with her eyes shaking with tears.

"I . . . I can't believe it," she whispers. "You're moving . . . after about a month of being together as best friends."

"I'm so sorry, Kanata," Sojiro says, feeling the same way as her. "I wish I can change things but-"

"NO!" Kanata cries as she plunges onto his chest, burying her head in it. "I don't want that!"

"Kanata?"

"We've been friends for a month and now you're moving!? Please stay here! Please! What would I do without you!?" Tears start falling from her eyes.

"We made friends, right? Maybe you can talk with them."

"But you're one of my best friends, So-kun! You were the one who stood by me when I needed you most, took care of me and even played with me! So, please stay here!"

Sojiro just sighs as he strokes her soft hair. "I'm sorry, Kanata. But I can't. You're just have to walk on your own for now."

Kanata quickly pops her head up. "You're gonna come back right? Please tell me you're coming back!"

"I . . . don't know. It may depend on my parents. But we'll always remember each other, right?"

Kanata sniffles. "I-I guess."

"So, please. Try your best to make some friends on your own. I know I've been a great friend to you, but now you have to be on your own."

"I *sniff* understand." She wipes the tears from her eyes. "I'll try my best."

Sojiro smiles at her. "I'm glad."

"I'll miss you, So-kun."

"I'll miss you, too, Kanata."

With that, Kanata buries her head in his chest while crying her heart out. Sojiro just strokes her hair to comfort her, hoping that they would stay like this forever.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the super late update. I had some writers block, but never fear! Here's a new long chapter, just as I promised! For the next chapter is going to be Sojiro and Kanata's high school days, so stay tuned, you guys! :) But . . . it's going to be a little difficult writing it considering Sojiro's obsession. I mean . . . "a pervy old geek with a lolita complex"? That's kind of hard to understand, but I'll try my best.  
**

**Oh, and thank you so much for the reviews, especially Simpily Hiiragi. Once again, you warmed my heart to write another chapter. I just love those long reviews you have, so keep it up, man! I hope to hear your thoughts on this chapter as well.**

**Anyways, feel free to give out any suggestions, questions or concerns and don't forget to review! ;)**


	4. We Meet Again

**Chapter 4  
**

**We Meet Again**

**5 years later . . .**

17-year-old Sojiro looks up at the high school with a bright smile on his face. This is his first day here at Koji High. After being in Tokyo for 5 years, his family seems to be improving a lot. His dad's job is going very well and earning enough money to get the family going, his mother even found a job at some woman's clothing store and is going very well, too. So far, everything's going well for the Izumi family. Sojiro even bought a new laptop some time ago and just started playing these dating simulators a few days before the first day. For him, he's kind of nervous talking to other girls, for his reason being is that he's kind of a slob for interacting with them as well as his pervy acts towards them.

It wasn't as bad as he thought it would be, but whenever he walks up to a girl, his pervy personality would try and take over. The results were not so good. But this time, Sojiro had promised himself that he would at least talk to a girl without having his pervy personality trying to do the talking. He had enough of that throughout freshman, sophomore and junior year. _This year will be different,_ he thought to himself.

Though he is just starting senior year, he didn't make any friends since his video game habit started, except for Kai from elementary school. Sojiro met him again during junior year one time in study hall and the two quickly became best buds and video game partners. Since then, he would ask about Kanata from time to time and Kai would tell him that she was just fine until he moved as well. Sojiro begins to feel a little sorry for not only her, but for himself for moving on her like that years ago and wishes he could see her again.

He stands by the entrance with a smile on his face and begins to walk in when a familiar voice calls him.

"So-kun!"

He turns around to notice his friend, Kai, come running towards him. Sojiro smiles as both of them give each other the high-five.

"Hey, what's up, man?" he says.

"Not bad," Kai replies. "And you?"

"Great. So, are you ready for your first day?"

"Totally! What about you? You're not still nervous, are you?"

"Me? No, not me!"

Kai just smirks. "I can tell from the that expression. Is it because you don't want to talk to girls like last time?"

Sojiro's eyes jerk back and forth as if he's looking for excuses, but he's got nothing.

"I see," Kai says. "So you _are _nervous! Don't worry, man! You'll get to talk to a girl soon."

"But . . . I don't think I can do it."

"What do you mean? Have you been playing those dating simulators again?" Kai asks. He knows Sojiro plays those since the two met again and had helped each other get through them whenever they are in a tough situation.

Sojiro just nods. "There's this one that I really hate and want to throw it out the window."

"Which is?"

"Don't Be Nervous Talking to Girls."

Kai frowns. "Dude, why would you play that darn game!? That is just not something you should be playing! First of all, that lady is a total witch, second, you should not trust this game at all! it shouldn't even be near helpful when trying to date a girl!"

"I know. I don't think I'm able to get that girl's phone number anyway, even memorizing it is such a pain."

Kai just puts his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Try playing some other dating game instead of that stupid game you're currently playing. I played it one time and I hated it so much that I never wanted to play it again."

"You're right. I'll try looking for a new one or something when I have the time."

Kai nods. "I hope you will."

Pretty soon, the two friends enter the school and look around for a bit. The main entrance looks amazing and there are a lot of students scrambling around to get to class. Most of them were chatting with their friends while walking to class. Sojiro and Kai sigh happily as they take in the new environment of the school.

"Ah, this is a great school isn't it?" Sojiro asks as he stretches out his arms.

"I'm sure it is!" Kai replies. "Wait until you get to class, though. Things are gonna get really tough throughout the school year, isn't it?"

"Mm-hmm."

Both of them sigh in disappointment this time and continue walking through the halls. They get near the stairs and check the map nearby. They find that they are near their homeroom, which is upstairs and a few rooms straight down the hall. Both of them look at each other and give a satisfied nod. Sojiro takes one last look around when he notices a short girl walking alone in the hall through the crowd of people. She has long blue hair that reaches up to her calves and beautiful green eyes. He can't help but stare at her for what it seems like minutes until Kai waves his hand at his face.

"Hello? Earth to So-kun?" he says.

Sojiro finally snaps back into reality as he turns toward his friend. "Oh, what?"

"Phew. I thought for a second there, I lost you."

"Kai, look at that beautiful girl over there." Sojiro points to his direction.

Kai looks over and his eyes widen at this sight. "Whoa! Where did she come from?"

"I don't know, but my eyes suddenly went towards this way and found someone interesting."

"Well, from the way I look at her, she seems to be too short to be a high school student."

Sojiro frowns. "Hey, don't say that. I've seen some people as short as her who still go to this school."

The gray haired guy just laughs nervously. "Ahaha! I'm sorry. It's just that, she seems like she can still be in elementary school. I mean, look at her."

Sojiro glances at the girl as she shyly walks past some people and continues to look around. "Yes, but she's still beautiful. I've never seen anyone as pretty as her."

Kai nods in agreement. "I couldn't agree more, my friend."

"But um . . ." Sojiro rubs his chin in thought.

"What is it?" Kai asks, raising an eyebrow.

"There's something familiar about this girl. It feels like I know her from somewhere, but I can't put my finger on it."

Kai looks at the girl as he furrows his eyebrows. "Hmm . . . she does seem familiar to me, too. Yeah, I can't remember if I had seen her or not either. Come on, let's get to class before the bell rings."

"Ok. I'll catch up to you."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Better not be late, man." With that, Kai runs up the stairs to get to class.

As for Sojiro, he takes one last look at the blue haired girl. She is carrying her books while still looking around for which place to go. For some reason, he is mesmerized by her intense beauty and cute features. He tries and tries to remember where he had seen her, but nothing comes to mind. He sighs in disappointment as he begins to turn to leave when he notices the girl looking at him. He gasps and quickly runs up the stairs. He knew that was rude, but when he saw the girl staring at him, he couldn't help but feel startled and run off like that. But he stops and peeks from a corner. The blue haired girl is still there, looking disappointed. It seemed like she was going to talk to him or something. He felt bad that he had run off like that and didn't give her a chance. Glancing at his watch, he sadly heads to his class, hoping that he will meet that girl again.

* * *

At homeroom, Sojiro takes his seat and lets out a heavy sigh. Kai looks over at him in concern.

"Hey, man. What's the matter?" he asks.

Sojiro turns to him with a sad look. "You know that girl we saw a minute ago?"

"Yes."

"Well, she was looking at me, like she wanted to talk to me or something. But I just ran off, startled. I couldn't help it though. I was surprised that she would even look at me."

"I see." Kai pats him on the back. "Don't worry, buddy. You'll see her again."

"I hope so."

The bell rings and everyone hurries to take their seats. The teacher soon comes in with a clipboard in her hand and walks up to the front of the class.

"Good morning class," she says. "Welcome to your first day of school. I'm sure you've been doing very well for the past 3 years, so I want you all to do well this year as well. Today, I've got great news for you. We have a new student attending this school."

Sojiro and Kai look up in surprise and smile at each other. They seem very interested so far. The teacher looks over to her left.

"Now then, let's meet our new student," she says. "Come on in."

At that moment, when the person comes in, Sojiro's eyes widen in shock. It is the same girl that he saw earlier! Kai seems surprised as well. The girl slowly walks up to the front and shyly looks down at the ground. Some of the teens were whispering some things to each other that Sojiro considered wasn't very nice, like "Is she really a high school student?" or "It's more like she can still be elementary school." or even "Did she even skip several grades to get into this school?"

The teacher clears her throat, getting the other students' attention. "Now then, please introduce yourself, miss."

"U-um . . ." the girl says, softly, fidgeting with her bag. "Hello, everyone. My name is Kanata Misaki."

Sojiro's head shoots up as he hears that name. _Wait, Kanata!?_ he thinks to himself. The name seems to ring a bell somehow.

"I-it's nice to meet you all," Kanata says as she takes a bow. Her voice is even more angelic than Sojiro could ever imagine. He starts smiling at the blue haired girl. She glances at him and softly gasps at the sight of Sojiro. Sojiro blushes and quickly turns away. He didn't want to stare at her for too long.

"Now everyone," the teacher says. "Please get along with Miss Kanata. She's pretty new here, so give her all the support and help she needs, okay?" She turns to the small girl. "You can take a seat right over there." She points to an empty seat just diagonally from where Sojiro is seated.

Kanata nods as she slowly walks over to her seat, but not before one of the guys puts his foot out and makes her trip. All the students laugh at this scene, but Sojiro quickly stands up and helps Kanata up. The small girl looks into his eyes and gasps.

"Are you alright?" Sojiro asks.

"Y-yes," she replies. "Thanks."

"No problem." He escorts her to her seat and gets back to his own. Kai gives him a high five for saving her like that.

"Alright then." The teacher says, clearing her throat. "Now that we got that out of the way, let's start with the first lesson."

As the teacher is writing on the white board, Sojiro takes a glance at Kanata. He can't believe that the girl he knew from elementary school is here in Tokyo! He doesn't know why, but he's very happy that he got to meet her again.

* * *

When class is over and everyone gets up to leave, Sojiro stands up and is about to talk to Kanata. But the only thing that worries him is when he tries to talk to her. What if his perverted personally kicks in? He knows that he would totally fail this test now that he saw the girl he knew 5 years ago. Besides, based on those dating simulators he's been playing lately, he doesn't know if those really helped him get to talk to girls, especially the one he was currently playing. What if Kanata had changed and decides not to talk to him at all? The thought makes him more and more nervous. He decides to wait for a while until he's really ready to talk to her. He's about to turn to leave when Kai grabs him by the shoulder.

"Hey, man," he says. "I thought you were gonna talk to her."

"No," Sojiro replies sadly. "It's too risky."

"Why? Because you have this personality that makes every girl go crazy? Maybe this girl wouldn't mind."

"I'm sure she would mind. Besides, no girl would ever go out with a pervy geek like me." He could even picture it in his head about what he would do if he ever interacted with Kanata and he would do perverted stuff to her a few seconds after a conversation started. He shakes his head at the thought.

Kai puts his hands on his hips. "Come on, man! All it takes is just a little change and then you're all good. Sure you're perverted and stuff, but if you try to lay it off for a while, maybe then, this girl would like to talk to you."

Sojiro thinks about it for a bit before nodding. "Okay. I'll try talking to her sometime today. But if I can't do it, I'll have to try tomorrow."

"Good luck, man."

"Thanks, buddy."

The two give each other a high-five and head off to their next class.

* * *

It isn't long before lunch time started. During those 3 hours, Sojiro couldn't find the opportunity to talk to Kanata. He would always shy away from her whenever he tries to approach her or when she looks at him. He just knew he couldn't do it because of his fear of doing something so stupid in front of her. He wanted to be her best first impression when he comes to talk to her after 5 years of not seeing each other. Sojiro sighs as he thinks to himself, _this is gonna be a lot harder than I thought._ When he takes his lunch out, he notices Kanata eating by herself. No one is even looking at her nor talking to her at all. Is it all because she's so short? To him, that sounded cruel. Not even he would think that she's too short to be in this school. She is perfectly fine.

But seeing her eating by herself makes his heart ache. As much as he wanted to sit with her, his fear keeps on holding him back. It makes him so frustrated that he can't even talk to the girl he knew in a long time. He just wishes that he didn't have this personality from when he started playing these pointless dating simulators. He now realizes that these simulators are just bums that even he can't accomplish, especially the current one that he hates so much. He knew that wouldn't help him at all since the blonde girl is such a witch.

All of a sudden, one of the guys comes over and grabs Kanata's lunch.

"Hey, what are you doing?" she says, standing up.

The guy just smirks as he just throws it aside and shoves her down on the floor. "Get lost, shorty. No one wants you around."

Sojiro quickly stands up, seeing this horrifying scene. Kai comes over by his side and witnesses the same thing.

"Please," Kanata whimpers. "Just leave me alone. I was just having a good time when you just messed up my lunch."

"Not a chance." The brown haired guy comes over her and leans over, smiling slyly at her. "I suggest you leave this place, shorty. You aren't even fit to be in this school."

All the other students laugh at her, brining Kanata close to tears. Sojiro clenches both of his fists as anger begins to rise up. He can't stand seeing Kanata being picked on after her first day here.

"She doesn't deserve this," he growls as he is about to walk up to the guy when Kai grabs him by the arm.

"Wait! What are you doing!?" Kai shouts. "You're gonna get heated to a crisp!"

"I can't let a guy like him pick on her like that," Sojiro says as he shakes Kai's hand off and rushes over and shoves the brown haired guy out of the way.

Kanata's eyes widen as Sojiro holds out his hand, smiling.

"Here," he says, gently. "Let me help you."

Kanata just nods as she takes his hand and he helps her up. The other students start whispering things to each other that Sojiro can't make out. But it doesn't matter to him right now since he has to help Kanata out. He turns to the brown haired guy and glares at him.

"Hey, why are you helping this witch?" he growls.

"She's not a witch, you jerk," Sojiro says. "She's just a frail girl who needs someone by her side. You don't know anything about her other than her being short. To me, I think she's cute being short like this. I don't mind. Besides, there are other people as short as her that go to this school, too. So, you have no right to judge her just by her size."

Kanata looks over at Sojiro and blushes at his words. She has never heard him say something like that before. This makes her feel . . . happy.

"Now then, if you don't mind," Sojiro says, taking Kanata's hand. "We have to go."

He leads her into the hallway where no one would bother them again. When he closes the door and walks out into the hall, he turns to check on Kanata.

"Are you okay?" he asks, looking at her in worry. "I'm really sorry about your lunch."

"I-I'm fine," Kanta replies softly, looking up at him. "Th-thank you for saving me. I didn't know what to do if it wasn't for you."

Sojiro blushes at this. "Oh! U-um, no problem. I was glad I, um, could help you."

The two stare at each other for a little bit, blushing at the same time. Then, when Kanata looks closely at Sojiro, it seems as though a bell has rung.

"Wait," she says. "You look so familiar."

"As for you, too," he replies.

Then, both of them gasp.

"IT'S YOU!" they both say in unison.

Kanata quickly jumps into his arms and buries her head in his chest for a bit, making happy sobs before looking up at him.

"Oh, my goodness!" she says. "So-kun! I'm so glad to finally meet you! I thought I would never see you again!"

Sojiro smiles as he strokes her hair. "I'm glad, too. But, what made you move here in Tokyo?"

"My father has some special business here, so we moved to Tokyo. It was going very well so far."

"I see." Then, Sojiro remembers something. "How's your condition?"

"About the same," she replies sadly. "The doctors are still trying their hardest to keep me alive so I can get through high school and college."

"I see."

Kanata's eye well up in tears again. "Oh, So-kun! It's been so long since I saw you last! I was thinking about you back in elementary school, hoping that you're alright. I didn't really expect to meet you here at this school."

"Me neither," he says, scratching the back of his head. "But now we finally meet again. That's a good thing, right?"

"Yes." She wraps her arms around his waist and rests her head on his chest. She doesn't want to let go, so Sojiro just hugs her back while stroking her hair again.

He was afraid that his pervertedness might take over, but because of his will to protect her, somehow that personality just suddenly disappeared for some reason, which is a good thing.

"So-kun?" she asks.

"Yes?"

"Will you . . . stay by my side once again, just like you did when we were kids?" She pulls in closer to him.

Sojiro smiles. "Of course. I will definitely stay by your side, now that we got to meet again. I promise that I will do that from the bottom of my heart."

Kanata looks up and gives him a soft smile. "I'm glad."

And so, as the clock ticks for the final minutes of lunch, the two hug each other tightly, not wanting to let go.

* * *

**A/N: Hello, everyone! Hey! I'm back! Sorry for not updating in like forever! I had major writer's block for this chapter, but I finally did it! Hooray! Now, the two aren't gonna start dating just yet until after the next chapter or so. By that time, I will try to expand the flashbacks that were in the 22 episode of Lucky Star, if I can interpret them. If you want, you can help me on which flashback you want me to put in and then I'll see if I can write it. Thank you.**

**I would also like to thank Simply Hiiragi for reviewing my last chapter. Keep it up on those long reviews, buddy! I love it when you write those! **

**Oh, one more thing. The dating game "Don't be Nervous Talking to Girls", that came to me when I was watching a play through of it and I thought I could put that in there. Haha! You really shouldn't trust this game at all! There are some questions that can require some serious looking up.**

**Anyways, feel free to give out any suggestions, questions or concerns and don't forget to review! ;)**


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